LIQUID-CRYSTAL SIDE-CHAIN COPOLYMERS AS LANGMUIR-BLODGETT AND MAGNETICALLY ALIGNED THIN-FILMS

Preformed polymers have been extensively used to make Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers and the properties of such structures have been examined by a variety of techniques. Similar side chain polymers have been shown to form smectic liquid crystals. In this paper we describe studies made on several copolymers that can be formed as Langmuir-Blodgett films and that can also be cast from the melt as smetic structures. It is shown that Langmuir-Blodgett films of these materials do not become oriented by a large magnetic field even at elevated temperatures. However, in two of the materials studied, the cast films responded to a magnetic field at similar elevated temperatures.